Method of lasting toes.



run Tus ATN ARTHUR L. RUSSELL, OF HYDE PARK, MASSACHITSETTS, ASSIGNR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATTERSON, NEWJERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

To all @IJ/0m it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Lasting Toes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of boots and shoes and particularly to the operation of lasting and temporarily securing the shoe upper. A present general practice is to over-work the upper into lasted position about the toe end of the last by wipers that have acting edges shaped to embrace the toe portion of the shoe and lay the upper over the margin of the innersole. The innersoles of welt and turn shoes are provided with upstanding lips or other formations that present a shoulder against which the upper is lasted. A binder of wire or other continuous material is employed tosecure the upper in lasted position by anchoring it at one end and drawing it tightly about the upper around the toe to bind it against the shoulder of the innersole after which it is anchored under tension.

An object of the present invention is to bind the toe without the use of anchor tacks and a further object is to improve the binding7 of the upper, which frequently slips to some extent under the binding wire, andy another object is to improve that portion of the lasting which includes the shaping of the upper on the margin of the shoe bottom by the stiffening and shrinking action of heat on the overlasted margin of the upper. In one aspect of the invention the action of the heat may be sufhcient to render the shaping of the upper in its'lasted position so complete and permanent that no binding means need be applied to retainfthe shaped upper in position for permanent fastening to the shoe sole or innersole.

In securing the first-mentioned objects I prefer to use a binder, which forms the subject-matter of another divisional application, and which is provided 'with an adhesive that will enable it to stick to the upper. It will be readily understood that the binder holds the upper over the enol` of the toe METHOD OF LASTINGTOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

largely by confining it in overwiped position and that for serving this purpose the binder may be caused to adhere at its ends only at the sides of the toe. the binder will be made to adhere to the shoe throughout the length of the binder and by sticking'to the upper it will prevent the up'- per from slipping under it at any point.

The adhesive used on the binder may be of any suitable kind although it will advantageously be one of the varieties that are non-sticky while dry and at ordinary temperatures and are rendered sticky by heat, and the invention may be practised with lthe aid of lasting apparatus which includes means for heating the binder to cause the adhesive to stick to the shoe upper. This may be accomplished by special heated tools as, for example, tools that act only on the end portions of the binder back of the wipers and serve primarily for binder and anchoring purposes but I prefer to heat the wipers themselves. By the use of heated wipers the binder may be caused to adhere to the upper throughout its length and to hold the upper more firmly. Also theheated` wipers serve better to formthe upper over the innersole margin and to ironvout any wrinkles which `may require treatment. Of course thel heated wipers or other devices will not be used at a temperature that will injure the particular leather of the shoes beling made or disadvantageously affect the portion of the shoe treated with the heat, but I have discovered that a leather shrinking heat maybe applied, as distinguished from a leather softening heat, which will Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

Divided and this application filed July Preferably, however, i

contract and, particularly under pressure,

more or less stiffen the flange of the `upper that is over the innersole margin. shrinking land stiffening action leaves the iange of the upper more fiXedly or `permanently set inlasted or molded position than is possible by pressure accompanied by such moderate heat as will merely warm andv soften the upper and render it pliable.

The drawings include an illustration of an apparatus covered by application Ser. No. 597,851, filed Dec. 17, 1910 from which this application is a division. This apparatus may be used in practising this invention, or the invention may be practised by hand or with the aid of any other suitable apparatus.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective Such view of the binder 30 which prefer to use; Fig. 2 shows the binder being applied to a shoe during the operation of lasting by the use of heated toe embracing wipers 6 and binder end rubbers 2O which are eccentrically pivoted on the wipers and are also connected with actuating mechanism 28, Q4, 26, 28, 29, 22, 27 by which they may be turned inde` pendently of the wipers actuating means l2, l5 in a direction to rubQthe binder ends toward the heel of the shoe. Fig. 3 shows the shoe at the end of the operation with the upper worked over the bottom of the toe portion of a last and molded with heat into position to be fastened and an adhesive 'coated binder applied to the molded and heated upper, the binder being caused by heat to adhere to the upper and maintain it in lasted position.

In practising the invention with the aid of apparatus herein shown the wipers 6 will be used as is customary to work the upper into lasted position and because of their heated condition, as by gas flames 25, they will smoothly iron and shrink the upper. Then the wipers will be partially backed away from the shoulder 32 of the innersole, or fromthe upper which they have pressed against the shoulder, and the strip or strand 30 of binding material coated on its back with adhesive, preferably one which is nonadhesive at ordinary temperatures but will be rendered tacky by heat, will be placed about the toe in the space opened up by backing ofil the wipers. This strip may advantageously be thin fabric or paper rendered stiif by the adhesive and capable of standing on edge with the adhesive against the upstanding upper. If the upper has become heated by the wipers, that heat may be sufficient to cause the binder to adhere to the upper. Preferably, however, the binder will be further heated, particularly at its end portions. For this purpose the end rubbers 2l may be used and advantageously the heated wipers will be advanced, after the strip 30 has been applied, to force the binder into intimate contact with the upstanding upper and to heat and soften the adhesive to make it stick. The binder rubberes may advance with the wipers, as by being carried on them, F 1g. 3, to rub rearvwardly and take out any slack from the binder that is developed by the advance of the wipers in pressing the binder against the upstanding flange of upper. The binder heating means may remain in contact with the binder for the necessary` time to allow the heat to act and then be, preferably, partially backed away where the wipers continue to hold the upper from slacking back while the adhesive sets into holding condition. lt is to be understood that while an adhesive-coated binder is preferably used and while the adhesive is preferably heated to make it stick, this invention insome of its aspects is broad enough to cover the use of any binder whether or not it needs the application of heat in its use. The upper does not require to be bound with the same security after having been overworked and molded by the use of heated wipers, because the molding heat has been eifective in shrinking the upper over the innersole and giving it a substantial set.

The advantage which is obtained from shrinking the fringe of the upper, as herein described, after it has been folded in over the edge of the last bottoni is of special iinportance. The shrinking of this overlaid portion of the upper at this time not only leaves the shoe in better shape around the toe so that the welt may lie snugly when attached but also the inturned upper, by reason of its contraction or shrinking, has less tendency to slack back over the edge of the shoe when the wipers are withdrawn. lf the heated wipers are allowed to remain over the upper long enough, light upper material in some classes of work becomes so permanently formed that the shoe can be welted without binding in the toe.

ln the described procedure the maximum heating and shrinking action may be given to the iiange from near the edge of the shoe, where the surface curves down, to near the shoulder, the insertion of the binder preventing the stock along the line where the inseam stitching is to come from being stiffened by heat. In case the maXimum effect of the heat on the flange extends around the curved end of the toe on a line shorter than the edge line of the innersole, the portion shrunk or contracted in that way will do much toward preventing the stock from slacking back across said edge line. Such slacking back is caused by the elasticity of the upper leather which is drawn under tension over the toe and gathered in over the margin of the insole. vIf the portiono gathered in, or a continuous line thereof eX- tending around the toe, be shrunk and its elasticity and pliability thereby reduced, as may be done by the use of heat in the manner described, it will of course restrain the upper from drawing outwardly over the edge of the toe.

An adhesive coated toe binder which required simply to be moistened has been used withgood results without heat, and a binder, the adhesive of which is of proper quality, can be made to stick satisfactorily by pressure without the application of heat or moisture.

It will be noted that in accordance with this method the upper is secured in lasted position without necessarily penetrating the innersole or the last and that lthis is done by attaching together, that is to one another, the several portions of the upper after they have been-gathered inwardly over the convex edge of the last, the line of attachment being located at a distance inside the curved edge line of the toe and thereby 1. That improvement in methods of mak ing shoes which consists in working an upper over a last, molding it into position to be fastened with a degree of heat sufficient to shrink the edge of the upper on a curved line extending around the margin of the shoe bottom at the toe, and applying to the upper so molded and heated a binder coated with an adhesive which is lcaused by the heat to adhere to the upper and maintain it in.

lasted position.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in wiping an upper over the toe end portion ofa last, heating the upper so wiped over, applying an adhesive-coated binder to the outer side of the overworked and heated upper, pressing the binder into holding position and heating it to cause it to adhere.

3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in working an upper over the end portion of a last and forming it into position to be secured upon the shoe bottom, applying an adhesive binder upon the formed upper about the shoe end, applying tension to the binder ends, and then applying pressure to the binder throughout its length and additional tension to the ends to take up any slack developed by such pressure.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in workingan up! per over a last and molding it into position over an innersole with a degree of heat sufficient to shrink the edges of the upper, maintaining the heat with pressure to shrink the upper that is on the innersole, and applying to the upper so molded and shrunk a binder to maintain it in lasted position.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in forcing an upper into lasted position over the shoe bottom about a curved end portion of a last and shaping the upper that is on the shoe bottom by the application of a sufiicient degree of heat accompanied by pressure to shrink that portion of the upper, and maintaining the upper under pressure and heat until it has set in lasted position upon the shoe bottom.

6. vThat improvement in methods of mak-fl ing shoes which consists in working the edgel portion of the upper over the last bottom,

and then shrinking the edge portion of the upper material inrits overworked position relatively to the remaining portion of Athe uppel'-A 1 7. That improvement in methods ,ofmaking shoes which consists in working the edge portion of an upper over anend portion of the last, then shrinking the edge portion of the upper material where it overlies the last bottom relatively to the remaining portion of the upper, and imparting to the shrunken* portion of the upper material a permanent set.

8. That improvement in methods of mak-l ing shoes which consists in working the edge portion of elastic upper leather-'over the end portionof a last to shape it to the last, and

then reducing the -elasticity of the over` worked portion 'on the edge of the last'relativelyto the remaining portion of the upper leather to lessen its tendency to react.

9. That improvement' in methods of making shoes which consists in working an upper over the toe portion of a last into position upon the innersole tobe fastened, and l then applying a long narrow binding strip to the curved marginal edge of the shoe bottom aroundthe toe and attaching the binder throughout its length tothe outerv surface only of the overworked upper which it is to4 hold.

10. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in working an upper over the toe portion of a last into position against the upstanding lip of a welt shoe innersole and fastening a long narrow binding strip vat its ends and also at points intermediate between its ends to the outer surface only of the upper which has been lasted againstthe innersole lipV whereby the upper around the-endvv of the toe is held from slacking back by means of a direct connection of the lasted over parts thereof with the binder. j i

11. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in working an upper over the toe portion of a last into position upon the innersole to be fastened, applying a long narrow binding strip to the curved marginal edge of `the overlasted upper upon the shoe bottom and attaching i binding strip to the curved marginal edge .of the overworked upper around theA end of the toe and also at the sides of the toe along a line determined by the extent to which the upper isfoverdrawn in-.l-asting, and securing the binder exclusively tothe upper Without attaching it `to the innersole or to the last.

13. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in working an upper over the convex toe end of a last and gathering ititogether over the bottom face of the last at a distance from the edge of the -shoe and then attaching together lportions of the outer faces only of the several parts of said gathered upperalong aline extending uninterruptedly around the toe and located inside thel convex shoe edge and shorter-than-the toe edge line.

14. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which .consists in working the edge portion of an upper overthe feather and against the lip of la welt innersole upon a last bottom, and then shrinking the upper overlyingthe feather ofthe innersole on a curve extending around the toe relatively to the upper on the sides facesof the last and portions of the upper extending above the innersolelip.

15. That improvement in methods -of making welt shoes which consists in working the edge portion of anupperover the feather and against the lip of a welt innersole upon a last bottom, applying a long narrow adhesive coated bindingy strip tothe upper so worked over the marginal portion of the -shoe bottom, and l.pressing the binding strip into holding position and heating it to cause it`to adhere.

16. That improvement .in methods of mak-ing welt shoes which consists in working the edge portion'of an `upper over the feather and against the lip of a welt innersole upon a last bottom, applying a long narrow adhesive coated bindingk strip to the upperso worked over the marginal portion of the shoe bottom, and pressing the binding strip into holding position along the curve surrounding the toe and causmgthe Copies of ythis patent may be obtained for mareas bindingrstripto adhere to the upper along such curve-betweenthe .ends of the strip to prevent-the'upper from slipping and slacking: back under fit.

17. That improvement 'in methods of making welt shoes which consists in -working the edge portion of an upper over the feather and-against the lip of a welt innersole upon a last=bottom, andcementing to the overworked upper-material exclusively betweenthe lip and the edge of the innersole a binding strip .extending from one side of the toe around the end of the to to the other side of the toe.

18. That improvement in Vmethods of making welt shoes which consists in working the .edge-portion of'an'upper over the feather and againstthe lip of a welt innersole upon a last bottom and cementing to the portion of the upper which stands against the rib of the innersole a long narrow binding strip placed on edge with a side face against said upstanding upper material.

19. That improvement in methods of making shoes having channeled and lipped or shouldered innersoles or soles which consists in working the upper materials over the last and against the upstanding face of the lip or shoulder, cementing a long narrow binding strip exclusively to the overworked upper materials with one edge upstanding against said upstanding upper materials in position'to be included in the seam which is to connect the upper materials permanently -to the lip or shoulder of theinnersole or sole.

1n testimony whereof `I have signed my name to this specificationin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL.

Witnesses JENNIE P. ANDERSON, MARTHA O. .BooTHBxn ve cents each, ybyfaddressing' the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

